This is I believe a very late 50's early 60's Certina production. My watchmaker, with over 30 years experience, says the manual movement is actually in his view better than Omega. I also love the explorer dial and 35mm case. This is Certina at it's best. They were producing over 1,000 watches a day in late 50's.

Certina has put out so many very nice designs over the years. Often, as with your example shown here, their 1950/60s models exhibited minimal bezels that make the watch look almost "all dial". It's a great elegant look.

Yeah? So, Paul (he says, talking to himself because no-one else listens) if you like the brand so much why don't you have even one example? Huh? Eh?

Hmmm...as with quite a number of brands it's a matter of so many good 'uns, too little time/money/fill in the blank/etc, etc :-)

Good idea Philips. Here's my Certina 'Kurth Freres' maybe late 1950's? (I've found no useful way to reliably date this one). What I love about it is the elegant simplicity of the white/silver dial, the raised gold arabic numerals, and the plain subsidiary seconds indication without which it might seem very "ordinary". Looks larger than its 34mm due to the narrow bezel. It houses a Cal 28-10 hand winder. I also heard from a watchmaker that Certinas used to be held in very high regard.

I appreciate your kind words. Actually, the middle one, which is, as you suggest, fairly typical of my collection in terms of design, is an exceptionally nice watch. I haven't gotten around to taking photos of it yet (that is the seller's pic), but will try to do so sometime soon. It is, in almost every respect, a superb watch, and strikes me as a worthy competitor to its contemporary counterparts such as the Longines and Omega automatics of the day.

That is nearly a pefect design, IMO. Whan I saw the initial photo you posted, I though to myself exactly what you stated...it would easily rival the Longines/Omega offerings of its day. My first Certina was very similar (ref. 28001-1) ...a 21j automatic with (alas) no date and a badly aged dial. I polished the case to look wonderful (it has those nice lugs typical of the mid-1950s) and thought about restoring the dial, but ended up selling it to fund some other project/purchase, of course.

Were I to come across one similar to yours, it would be a keeper, I suspect. Do you mind sharing the reference number?

Thanks for the extra photo, Tony. Here's one of the movement from my watch mentioned above...visually, I expect it is nearly identical to yours: